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University of Melbourne

University of Tasmania

University of Adelaide

University of Queensland

University of Western Australia

Location of Sandstone Universities across Australia

The sandstone universities are an informally defined group comprising Australia's oldest tertiary education institutions.^[1] Most were founded in the colonial era, the exceptions being the University of Queensland (1909) and University of Western Australia (1911).

All the universities in the group have buildings constructed primarily of sandstone. Membership of the group is based on age; some universities, such as the private Bond University, have sandstone-plated buildings but are not considered sandstone universities.

The label "sandstone university" is not completely synonymous with membership of the Group of Eight, which includes the Australian National University, Monash University and the University of New South Wales, but not the University of Tasmania. Nevertheless, the connotations (prestige, a focus on research, and curricula that have a strong emphasis on theory rather than practice) are much the same for the two groups. Australian Government survey data of university graduates has indicated in the past that students who enter the sandstone universities come from higher-income families, and that graduates largely have higher paid occupations or positions of influence, prompting claims of elitism and social division.^[2]^[3]

Constituent institutions

Sandstone universities can be taken to be either universities founded before World War I, or the oldest university in their respective state; either definition gives the same set of universities.

University	Location	Established	Undergraduates	Postgraduates	Endowment	Academic staff
University of Adelaide	Adelaide, South Australia	1874	20,005	7,352	$929 million^[4]	1,481^[5]
University of Melbourne	Melbourne, Victoria	1853	26,751	22,543	$1.335 billion^[6]	4,631
University of Queensland	Brisbane, Queensland	1909	35,076	18,620	$224.3 million^[7]	2,908
University of Sydney	Sydney, New South Wales	1850	35,351	25,958	$2.5 billion^[8]	3,743
University of Tasmania	Hobart, Tasmania	1890	27,880	5,999	$561 million^[9]	1,255
University of Western Australia	Perth, Western Australia	1911	19,839	5,967	$709 million^[10]	1,538

Gallery

Sandstone Universities
Barr Smith Library, University of Adelaide
Old Quad, University of Melbourne
Great Court, University of Queensland
Main Quadrangle, University of Sydney
Domain House, University of Tasmania
Winthrop Hall, University of Western Australia

Other Australian university groups

Red brick universities

The University of New South Wales, Monash University and the Australian National University have been termed 'red brick' universities.^[11] They are similar to the red brick universities in the UK, both groups coming after the ancient universities and sandstone universities.

Verdant (gumtree) universities

Further information: Verdant universities

Universities founded in the 1960s and 70s have been known informally as 'verdant' or 'gumtree' universities.^[12]^[13] These universities were established in their state capitals, often next to native bush land (now nature reserves), and have lush vegetative campuses. They are predominantly the second or third established university in their state.^[14]